Watchmen: Original Motion Picture Score

Tyler Bates challenges his own oeuvre with this sweeping compostion.

Composer Tyler Bates is perhaps best known for his bristling scores for such nail biting films as Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead and Rob Zombie's The Devil's Rejects, and while portions of Watchmen call for similar hair raising bouts of soniference, the film also allows for Bates to expand his musical palate and explore his more introspective, romantic side.

The score album begins with appropriate aplomb as emphatic choral elements collide with understated metal guitar and swelling orchestral horns; this is classic Bates taken to a much more grandiose level. Yet just as he gets you amped up he tosses off an emotional zinger in the form of "Don't Get Too Misty Eyed," which is his take on classic, romantic film scoring. Strings ripple with gentle ambiguity, creating a softly lit mood that wouldn't be out of place in some classic 1950's love story.

Bates gets back to his signature vibe on "Tonight the Comedian Died", implementing some start electronic elements to create an eerily somber tone laced with an undercurrent of menace and dread. Meanwhile "Silk Spectre" treads the line between romance and epic theatricality, again bringing the use of swelling horns to the forefront, mixing them with sweeping vocal and crashing percussion bursts.

This "battle" between the quieter, romantic side of the spectrum and the almost over-the-top action elements, with intermediate moments (the languid guitar wafting of "You Quit!" for example) filtered in-between keep the score on its toes, the listener never knowing quite what to expect from song to song. "Only Two Names Remain" is adrift with otherworldly ambiance, strange chirping and elastic electronic burble that leaves you off guard, while "The American Dream" is sufficiently bittersweet in tone thanks to a romantic interaction between strings and horns. '80s-styled synth is drenched all over "Edward Blake – The Comedian"

Lest you begin to feel that Bates has lost any of his signature edge, one merely need tune into "Prison Fight" which is all rough and tumble electronics and skirling guitar riffage. And there's plenty of his signature drone intoned passages of dark ambiance littered throughout ("Dan's Apocalyptic Dream," "Who Murdered Hollis Mason?," "I'll Tell You About Rorschach," for example).

In many respects this may be Bates most elaborate score to date (at the very least in terms of his work with Zack Snyder). He builds upon his already "patented" use of dark electronic noize and ethereal industrial elements, fleshing these aspects out with rich tapestries of classic minded nods to vintage Hollywood scores. While some might view the score as a bit scattered, it fits the nature of the film perfectly, creating a sonic companion that ultimately can't be tied down to a specific time or place.

That said, some of the pieces ("Countdown") are a bit jarring for stand-alone listening pleasure. In retrospect Bates score is perfect within the context of the film, working seamlessly with the source music found on the soundtrack and helping to push Snyder's tale along with added emotional charge. Yet as a separate entity it unfurls like barbed wire, tightly wound and bound to draw blood. It's a challenging and often times rewarding listen that cuts deep for those with the patience to wade through it.